Capitals force Game 7, beat Penguins 5-4

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David Steckel scored 6:22 into overtime, redirecting a Brooks Laich shot past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury into the net and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 Monday night to force a game 7 in Washington.

Washington which had lost the previous two overtimes of the series, had leads of 2-1 and 4-3 but could not hold on in regulation as Sidney Crosby scored at 15:52 of the third period to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime.

Momentum turned to Pittsburgh after Crosby’s late goal as the Penguins were awarded a 5-on-4 power play with 2:03 remaining in the third period.

After a number of chances, the Penguins were not able to convert as Simeon Varlamov made key saves to stave off elimination.

Varlamov made 38 saves and the Capitals were outshot 42-24 on the night. While Varlamov stood tall in the net, secondary scoring was the key for the Capitals to force a game 7 and they got it tonight.

Role players Tomas Fleischmann and David Steckel each scored and the Capitals got a big night from Viktor Kozlov (2 goals) and Alexander Semin who scored his first goal of the series.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.